The championship race in the Bundesliga remains exciting, Borussia Dortmund defeats Mönchengladbach confidently and sometimes magically. In Gladbach, the pressure on coach Farke is growing.
BVB made things clear early on in their 5-2 (4-0) home win against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Donyell Malen (5th) and Jude Bellingham (18th, penalty kick) went ahead, Sébastien Haller (20th, 32nd) pushed a brace behind and scored well worth seeing. Gio Reyna (90 + 4) made the final point.
Mönchengladbach’s Ramy Bensebaini (75th) converted a controversial penalty kick, Reyna had previously hit both the ball and the opponent in a duel with Bensebaini. Substitute Lars Stindl shortened the lead to 2:4 (85 th ) and shortly afterwards had another nice shot. But Gregor Kobel parried, Dortmund’s eleventh home win in a row was no longer in danger.
“We’re very happy because we played a really good home game right from the start,” said BVB trainer Edin Terzic of the sports show. To win the long-distance duel with Bayern and hold the championship trophy in your hands at the end of the season is still the big wish.
“We’re not going to pray every day for something to happen, we can increase the probability. The best way to do that is to win the last two games.”
Pressure on Farke in Gladbach is growing
Mönchengladbach coach Daniel Farke said it was the first half “Not good enough to be considered for a point in Dortmund. We were undisciplined and didn’t stick to the match plan. That’s why the defeat is deserved.”.
The Gladbach fans who had traveled with them turned their backs on the game early on in protest. The inconsistent Borussia is far from the European Cup places in eleventh place, the pressure on Farke should increase.
He feels the full support of the club management, said Farke when asked, but that was not an issue he was thinking about. “My responsibility is to do better with these guys than we did in the first half today.”
Outside player Jonas Hofmann jumped to the side of his coach in the Sportschau interview: “We always prepare very, very well for the game, but we don’t get it done at the weekend. If I saw that the coach couldn’t reach us, I would say so. But I don’t see that.” Julian Weigl also supported Farke: “We stand behind the coach, he set us up well.”
Unilateral first half in Dortmund
The game was one-sided in the first half and Dortmund gave the lead the first chance to score: Attacker Malen headed a shot from Bellingham over the line from close range.
The Dutchman’s eighth goal in the last eight games took the pressure off Dortmund after Bayern Munich’s 6-0 win over Schalke in the afternoon. Even the great chance of equalization seven minutes later by Gladbach’s full-back and alleged BVB new signing Bensebaini could not stop Dortmund’s offensive urge.
Bellingham with luck, Haller with a dream goal
As in the previous week in the 6-0 win against Wolfsburg, the Bayern pursuers consistently followed suit with amazing effectiveness and a great deal of enthusiasm. A foul by Florian Neuhaus on Haller was punished by referee Daniel Schlager with a penalty, and with a bit of luck Bellingham converted.
Haller’s dream goal caused further frustration among the completely overwhelmed guests. Standing with his back to the goal, Haller transported Malen’s cross pass into the far corner in a remarkable manner and thus gave his team a decisive 3-0 lead. Less art was needed for the second goal by Haller: Malen again served the newcomer from Dortmund, who converted directly in the style of a goalscorer.
Moenchengladbach with 0:4-break backlog well served
With the 0: 4 at half time, the Gladbachers were still well served. Although there were promising approaches in the game, there were astonishing gaps in the cover.
Dortmund remained the better team after the break, but shifted down a few gears. So the guests got new courage and rewarded themselves with the two hits.
BVB in a long-distance duel with Bayern
Dortmund are still one point behind leaders FCB and are now 18 goals. BVB is a guest at FC Augsburg on Matchday 33 (Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 5:30 p.m.) and will host 1. FSV Mainz 05 for the season finale. Bayern still have to play RB Leipzig and 1. FC Köln. Mönchengladbach plays in Leverkusen (Sunday, 7.30 p.m.) and against Augsburg.